Third POV
While the excitement of facing strong opponents grew stronger as the game grew closer and closer, the first year trio of Seirin still had school to worry about.
Like any other day, it was time for their lunch hour, and as they sat in their classroom, a certain blue haired phantom couldn't help but to notice something. On the desk in front him, Kuroko watched as Kagami literally inhaled the large pile of food in front of him.
"You're eating way more than usual," the phantom observed.
Swallowing his bite, the red headed tiger turned around just to see a single sandwich with some juice on the shorter boy's desk, his own little lunch for the day.
"I'm actually surprised that's enough food for you. And where's (Y/N)? She's been in the cafeteria for almost half the period," Kagami mentioned as he looked back towards the door of the classroom.
Funny little story as to how that begun. Because of her own bubbling excitement, the triple threat had completely forgot about packing her own lunch and rushed out the door after feeding all of her fur and feathered babies. The girl knew she had forgotten something, but even Kuroko was surprised she had forgotten about her meal.
The boys had tried offering her some of their's since the last incident in the cafeteria left them a little traumatized, but (Y/N) refused it, saying that she wanted them to get as much energy as they could before their games.
So, she had rushed down in order to beat the crowd, but considering how long she had been gone, it had been kind of obvious that she hadn't. Or had she?
Not even two seconds after Kagami had questioned the girl's whereabouts, the door to their classroom slid open, and there (Y/N) stood with her usual bright grin and bag overflowing with snacks and goodies in her grasp.
"I'm back! *Phew*, playing two games yesterday made me hungry," she smiled before making her way over to her friends.
While Kuroko wasn't the least bit surprised that she had as much food as she did, Kagami kind of just sat in shock for a few seconds. Sometimes he forgot that she had a monster appetite like he did, maybe even bigger.
"Man, I really can't talk now," the red head muttered to himself as the girl sat herself before digging in her bag of treasures.
"Well, at least I'm sore all over," the phantom miracle suddenly voiced as he faced the red head, getting back to their conversation.
"Wait, what do you mean 'at least'? You know what? Forget it, I'm sore too," Kagami said as he stretched slightly in his seat.
And their female player, despite being a little toughie, had to admit that she was feeling the effects of playing so hard the day before. Taking a bite of a meat bun she had bought, (Y/N) stretched her legs out before rolling her neck.
"Me three, I need to stretch later," she piped up as the boys heard two loud cracks from her neck.
For those who hadn't heard them before, people who heard the girl popping her bones or even watching her stretch for that matter, were always a little freaked out that she had just broken her body in some way, shape, or form. And Kagami was no different, cringing at the sound, thinking that it had hurt.
But before he could ask if she was alright, a familiar voice caught the trio's attention.
"Kuroko, Kagami, (Y/N)," Riko called from the hallway.
Looking towards the open door of their classroom, the three first years saw their coach standing their with a few boxes that looked somewhat heavy.
"Glad I spotted you. Got a second?" She asked.
Kuroko and Kagami, fearing that something would happen if they were to deny her, got up and headed towards the entrance while (Y/N) sat in her spot for a few extra seconds a pout forming on her face as she chewed her food.
"Aww... but I just got my food...." She whined slightly.
But the second year knew exactly how to get to her cousin. And soon, (Y/N) saw the big ol' puppy eyes that her cousin was giving her, and it was safe to say that the triple threat was weak to them. Letting out a small groan and sinking in her seat, the (h/c) haired girl finally gave in as she shoved the last bite of her meat bun into her mouth before standing up, wiping off her hands.
"I guess..." she sighed before joining her two friends and cousins.
And so began the trek of carrying the somewhat heavy boxes to wherever their coach needed them to be. Judging by the groan coming from the tallest of the group, it was clear that Kagami wasn't too impressed by this little task.
"We're still super worn out from yesterday. You knew that...you demon," the red head grumbled.
"Would you really make me carry that all by myself? Doesn't seem so nice, you should help the needy," the brunette coach tried to make a point while also completely ignoring Kagami's little insult.
Though it kind of had the opposite effect.
"Oh, you're pretty needy alrigh-UGH!" The red head was cut off by a hard punch to the side.
Walking in the middle of him and Kuroko, (Y/N) had the smallest box, resting it on her hip as she carried it, and it wasn't like she was really all that tired. It wouldn't hurt to carry another one.
"Taiga, if you want, I can carry it for you. Won't bug me all that much. Plus, I know you're still pretty tired," she happily suggested.
Oh boy. Seeing that smile really made the tiger's heart skip a beat. And Riko took full advantage of this, a sly grin appearing on her face. Coming up from behind her younger cousin, the brunette gently squished the girl's cheeks as (Y/N) made a little face by scrunching up her nose, though she had no idea what was coming next.
"You wouldn't even help a beautiful girl like (Y/N), here?" The coach questioned as she turned the taller girl's head to look at the younger one's childhood friend.
Riko's mocking smile only added salt to the wound as Kagami winced before his cheeks became a vibrant vermillion. And that was when his ruby eyes made contact with the tall girl's own bright (e/c) ones, her lashes framing them perfectly without needing any makeup at all, her naturally pink cheeks that were being slightly squished by Riko, and that award winning smile.
Kagami had to quickly turn his face away in an attempt to hide from what was so obviously the truth. Well, except to one person.
(Y/N) didn't think she was at all ugly, but she didn't think she was all that pretty. She could name a few people who were way cuter than her.
Letting out a little giggle, the girl gently nudged the red head before jogging out in front of the group, holding the box she was carrying on her hip before waving her hand.
"You don't have to force yourself, Tigerhead. I'm not gonna take offense or anything."
"No, wait! That's not what I-"
"I think you're beautiful, (Y/N). Much more so when you're smiling like that."
As Kuroko said that, Kagami was quick to glare over at the phantom, cussing him out in his head before noticing the happy girl in front of them freeze in her tracks with widened eyes as she looked over at the light blue haired phantom, who gave a small and soft smile.
There went (Y/N)'s cheeks as they exploded into a bright cherry red in reaction to Kuroko's compliment. The poor girl didn't even know how to react properly as she placed one hand on her cheek to try and cool them down.
"Geez, Tetsu, you're gonna make me combust. *Phew*, it's hot in here," the tall girl began muttering to herself before beginning to speed walk down the hallway while fanning herself.
Unfortunately for her, (Y/N) had no idea where she was going with her box until Riko's voice stopped her in her tracks.
"(Y/N)! Wrong way!"
"AH! Sorry!"
With that, she quickly turned around and made her way back to the group before they continued on. And unfortunately for Kagami, he wasn't able to make up for his little reaction from a few minutes ago. He instead did so by giving the phantom of the group the death glare, but Kuroko really didn't mind at all.
Because he had meant every word of what he had said.
'DAMMIT, KUROKO!'
"So what're all these CDs for, Riko?" (Y/N) finally asked once she had regained her composure, referring to the content in the boxes.
"I found some recordings of this year's and last year's games just sitting in the club room. They're normally for scouting. But right now, they're just taking up space," the second year coach explained.
Taking one of the CDs out of the box, (Y/N) observed that it was one against Kitawada and Seiho, if she had read it right before placing it back in the box.
"Listen, guys. We're going to be playing two games against the Kings. There's no such thing as doing too much research," Riko concluded.
Well, she had a point. Seirin would be going up against Seiho first, so it didn't hurt to look at what their starting lineup this year was like.
Making sure it was okay with her cousin, (Y/N) asked if she could take the disc of Seiho with her in order to do her own little analysis. The tall girl had watched the game against the Kings the year before, and she wanted to see if they still did what they did best.
After school and practice that day, the triple threat headed towards the boy's changing rooms in order to find her two fellow doofuses. Well, she really didn't have that hard of a time as she heard a yell coming from the room that could only belong to one person.
"Well make a sound next time, idiot!" Kagami shouted at none other than Kuroko, himself.
(Y/N) actually jumped from how loud the red head was, but she couldn't blame him. If you're not used to Kuroko's no presence thing that he had going on, it'd scare the daylights out of anyone.
Still, she came here to find them in order to go over a little something before their next game.
"Hey, hey, hey! Thought I'd find you two in here."
The boys turned towards the entrance to see the sole female player on their team popping her head into the room, giving them both her usual bright smile.
"Lookie what I have. Riko gave me a little something something," she said as she held out the CD.
Putting the CD in the DVD player, (Y/N) stood back up to see that Kagami had taken a seat on the bench, patting the spot next to him. Giving him a quick smile as a thanks, the tall girl took a seat next to the American as Kuroko stood behind her.
As the three watched the game between Seiho and Kitawada High School, it was clear to the two boys as to why they were considered Kings. Their defense could be considered top notch in all of Tokyo. Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, placing in his chin in one hand, Kagami observed something a little strange about the King of the North.
"There's something weird about the way they move," the red head spoke his thoughts.
"Right? I mean, I know I move weird on the court sometimes, but that's a different story," (Y/N) agreed as she pointed to the TV before leaning back a little bit against Kuroko's chest, which he welcomed.
Now that she thought about it, she had seen this movement before. She saw it last year a lot, but her brain was fogging over as to what it was.
"Our manager back at Teiko and I noticed it right away. But I don't remember what that movement is called," she spoke, trying to see if anything would ring a bell.
Nope, nothing. But it wasn't just the movements that were odd about Seiho, Kagami noticed something else too as he rewind the scene back a few seconds to see a player wearing a #10 jersey with a shaved head.
"Cubo over there, especially, almost pisses me off," the red head scowled.
"That guy there? (Y/N) and I know him," The light blue haired boy stated from behind the triple threat.
"Huh?"
They knew that #10? The tall girl was confused at first. Leaning forward, (Y/N) squinted slightly as she tried to get a closer look. And then, a slight look of dread appeared on her face. Yep, she definitely knew who that player was.
"Oh....boy. I forgot he went there. We played against him in middle school. It was..." the girl paused for a second.
Kuroko had remembered what had happened, so he didn't blame the girl for having the reaction that she did. After all, the phantom didn't quite like the situation either.
"Interesting...to say the least," (Y/N) finished once she found the right word to use.
"Yeah, it was around the time when we first started, but he almost managed to get the best of Kise," Kuroko added on.
Now that perked Kagami's attention. He knew how strong the blonde player was, so to have someone almost beat him...
Flashback
It was one of the games while the miracle duo were still in Teiko, Kise had the ball in his grasp, ready to pass. Until... the familiar sound of a whistle blew, echoing throughout the gym.
"Twenty-four second violation!" The ref called out.
And he was obviously talking about the blonde copycat, who held the ball in his hands.
"What?"
Kise couldn't believe it. He had never been called out on something like that before. He was still new to the team, so he had to prove himself. Plus, he really to impress the girl he had met his first year of middle school who had really gotten him into basketball in the first place.
Well, that wouldn't happen today.
"Moron! You held the ball too long."
"Sorry!"
"Sorry's not gonna cut it, Kise-chin."
"This, here's exactly why you're no good," Midorima joined in, pushing his glasses up a little bit, clearly irritated.
Kise just stood there, smiling sheepishly. Standing next to him was a younger version of (Y/N), her slightly shorter hair up in a high ponytail with her signature headband. She had a slightly annoyed look on her face too, not too impressed with the blonde's ball hogging.
"Ryota, you could've passed it to me, you know," she stated bluntly as she placed a hand on her hip.
Oh come on! Kise didn't think (Y/N), herself would be ticked, but clearly he was wrong. Gasping slightly, the blonde looked towards the unimpressed girl, trying to avoid her gaze.
"Oh man. So you're coming after me too, huh, (Y/N)cchi?"
"Just saying," she retorted, turning her head away.
"You're also the only one who missed the twenty point average," a voice that one could only describe as one who held the power said to the copycat.
Looking over, the two players were met with the eyes of their captain, seeming like they were piercing into Kise, the blonde quickly straightening up his posture.
"I'm sorry! But wait, Kurokocchi missed it too," he whined, trying to take less of a brunt by redirecting it to the phantom on the bench.
But it didn't work, the captain of their team as well as their strongest member both knew why that was the case.
"Well," the girl started out.
"It's different for him," both her and the captain stated at the exact same time.
Not intending for it to be that way, (Y/N) quickly turned to apologized, but stopped once she saw the captain giving her a soft smile, causing her to blush and turn away.
Kise was so done with taking more salt to the wound, so he decided to do something about it. With a glare now on his face, the copycat sharply turned towards the shaved haired boy, who was his opponent.
"What's your name? 'Cause of you, I'm getting chewed out from all sides today. Even from (Y/N)cchi, and she never gets mad. So name. Now," Kise demanded.
"Tomoki Tsugawa. And yeah, they're really going at you. That's hilarious. Boy, I wish you could see the awesome look on your face," Tsugawa smirked, slightly mocking Kise.
Well that reaction was totally not what the copycat was expecting. This guy was kind of annoying, more so than any of the other opponents who have tried to mock Teiko.
"What is wrong with you? Hey, does anyone else wanna mark this clown?"
With his shoulders slumping now, Kise just wanted a new mark change. He had to show (Y/N) how much he had improved from her teachings after all. But the copycat had a feeling that having her cover Tsugawa wasn't really a good idea, not that he didn't think she couldn't handle it, she so could.
But the blonde just had a feeling. Looking over, the two boys saw the girl and Teiko's ace messing around slightly, doing different handshakes, the triple threat messing up with the ace laughing before showing her what she needed to do.
That was when Tsugawa decided to make things interesting.
"Hey, let's make a little bet," the shaved head boy suddenly proposed to the copycat.
That caught Kise's attention as he turned back towards Tsugawa.
"What do you mean?"
Having his fear come to life, Kise froze once once he saw the shaved hair boy point to the sole girl on the court as she did a silly little dance, making the ace and center of Teiko laugh a little bit.
"I'm talking about her. Your #17. I like her. She's cute, has an awesome personality, and is an amazing basketball player. If I win this game, then I get to take her out on a date," the opposing boy smirked.
Hearing their little conversation, (Y/N) turned towards the two boys, stopping what she was doing completely. Kise's golden orbs quickly sharpened once he heard that.
"What'd you say?" The copycat growled.
"If I win, I get to ask her out. So, do you accept?"
"Wait, wait, wait! WHAT?!?" (Y/N) shrieked as her face exploded with red.
She was praying that Kise had enough sense to not accept. But, unfortunately, she was wrong. She saw him looking back at her with an expression of pure determination. Surprisingly, he was able to ignore the hardened gazes of the other members of the team, which included Hibiki as he sat next to Kuroko.
"Don't you worry, (Y/N)cchi. Bring it on."
"HUH?!" The girl freaked as she speedily placed both her hands on the sides of her head.
Luckily, and as expected, the Generation of Miracles of Teiko had become the victors of the game, and had saved (Y/N) from being asked out. She didn't think Tsugawa was a bad guy, but the situation was a bit inappropriate.
As the players went over to their bench to cool down, the triple threat decided to let Kise have it.
"Ryota....come here," She growled, taking the blonde's collar before literally dragging him over to Teiko's side before pushing him down on the bench.
Kise was now fearing for his life as he face paled, let out a small squeak as he looked up into her sharp and piercing gaze. The boy was in for it now, watching the girl raise her hand, the others staying out of her way.
The copycat braced himself for the worse as he shut his eyes tightly before feeling a tiny bop on his head of blonde hair.
Opening his eyes once again, Kise looked up at the girl to see her sigh as she kept her hand on his head before she ruffled his hair rather roughly.
"Look, I understand you can get a little competitive sometimes. But if you do something like that again without my consent, I'm gonna kick you into next week, got it?" She made very clear.
And it was crystal clear to the blonde as he quickly smiled before tightly hugging her waist, burying his face into her stomach.
"*Phew*, you scared me there, (Y/N)cchi. I promise I won't do it again," the copycat swore.
"Well, as your punishment:no more hugs for the rest of the day," the girl stated, placing both hands on her hips as the boy stayed latched to her waist.
Until he heard those words, Kise quickly retracted before crying comical tears.
"You kinda deserve it."
"Agreed."
"You guys!"
"(Y/N)-chin, can I still get my hug?"
"Yee."
As Kise sat in his little gloomy corner, Teiko's center went over to the open armed girl, quickly picking her up as she wrapped her arms around his neck before carrying her off as the team started making their way back to the changing rooms.
Flashback End
The girl was now blushing heavily as she recalled that little memory. And she knew Tsugawa was persistent. She thought he was nice and that they could be friends, but the boy didn't know how to think before he spoke.
"Anyway, I say we head home. I'm gonna take this and look at it a little closer. You guys ready?" The tall girl asked as she placed the CD in her bag.
Seeing the two had grabbed their bags already, the three made it towards the entrance of the school before (Y/N) saw Kagami holding out his hand towards her.
"Want me to walk you home?" He asked.
(Y/N) was taken back for a split second before Kuroko decided to intervene.
"Oh, uh..."
"Kagami, I'm the one who was going to, you know."
"Yeah? Well I asked first!"
Kuroko just looked at the red head with a blank stare as (Y/N) looked back and forth between the two.
"You don't even know where she lives."
"So?!"
Standing off to the side as the two boys continued to go at it, (Y/N) let out a big sigh before stepping in, grabbing both boys' hands and pulling them along with her.
"You both can take me home! But Tetsu has a point, Taiga. Don't you live in the opposite direction from my house? Won't that be a long walk for you?" She began asking as the trio began walking.
Kagami winced once he heard her ask that. Because she wasn't wrong. Usually the three of them would meet at Maji Burger and then walk from there where they part ways from a intersection.
"W-Well, I don't mind all that much..."
"I told you. There's a reason why I'm the one she usually walks with."
"Shut your mouth, Kuroko!"
"*Sigh* What am I gonna do with you two?"
Timeskip
The next day after school, the team had gathered in an empty classroom in order to go over the film that the starter trio had watched the night before. As the buzzer sounded off from the TV, Seirin saw the final score was 71-12, more than triple the score.
"I knew it was going to be tough, but these guys are on a whole different level," Izuki sighed as he crossed his arms.
"New game plan;how about we all just go home and cry," Koganei sadly suggested.
Even Riko had to admit that with (Y/N) and Kagami on their side, this was still going to be tough.
"Not gonna lie, I'm almost certain we'd lose to Seiho and Shutoku nine times out of ten. So we gotta make the actual game the one out the ten a win," she stated confidently.
(Y/N) nodded along with her cousin, though she too knew there was going that there was going to be a great challenge ahead of the team.
"Everyone," Hyuga's voice sudden called out.
Turning towards the captain of the team, everyone saw a determined yet stern look on his face.
"It's not a strategy but...I might have an idea."
The miracle duo looked at each other, curious as to what their captain was thinking of. Well, they had all of the confidence in the world that their upperclassmen would come through.
Timeskip
It was now the day that Seirin had been waiting for, their game up against the King of the North, Seiho. All of the teams had begun warming up in the large gymnasium, Kagami quickly making his own impression as he slammed a dunk into the basket.
Of course he had to show off some of his power, after all, Shutoku was warming up on the court right beside them. Grabbing his ball from the ground, the red headed tiger looked up to see that Midorima standing there on his side of the court as well.
The two players were soon giving each other an intense look, neither of them backing down. Kuroko and (Y/N) both stood back as onlookers before the captain of Seirin decided to do something about it.
"That's not the guy you should be staring at, meathead," Hyuga glared as he grabbed Kagami's head before turning it away from Midorima's side of the court.
The red head quickly stepped away from his irritated captain, rubbing his now slightly sore neck.
"You keep gawking like that and we'll definitely lose this game."
"I wasn't gawking at anything. I'm just checking out the competition is all."
As the tiger said that, the four Seirin players looked over to the other end of the court where their next opponents were warming up. (Y/N) recalled what she had seen on the CD, and now that she got a good look at Seiho, they really didn't have any big and scary looking players.
If she recalled correctly, their captain and center, Tsutomu Iwamura was their tallest guy, standing at 6'2, about Mitobe's height. And he was built like a wall. But she knew they had some other good players on their side, like the dark blonde playmaker, Ryuhei Kasuga. His specialty were scoop shots. The core of Seiho's team were these two third years.
Looking around to see the other members of Seiho's starting lineup, (Y/N) flinched and froze up in her spot as she let out a small grunt. Dribbling the ball and making a layup was none other than Tsugawa, himself.
Luckily, he hadn't really looked over at Seirin's side just yet. She still had time! Looking around quickly, (Y/N) spotted Mitobe, Furihata, and Fukuda standing beside each other. Perfect!
The girl quickly sped walked over to the three as they noticed a look of urgency on her face.
"What's wrong, (Y/-"
"Hide me hide me hide me!" The girl whisper-yelled as she cut off Furihata.
She quickly got behind them, peering over Fukuda and Mitobe's shoulders. They looked back at her with confusion written all over their faces. It wasn't like the girl of Seirin to be hiding from anyone.
"Are you sure everything's okay?"
"Uh-huh.... I just don't want one of Seiho's players to see me. And you'll know why once he does," she said quietly, continuing to look over the boys' shoulders.
Making sure Tsugawa was looking away from Seirin's side of the court, (Y/N) scooted more towards Mitobe, waving her hand to have him turn towards her a little more.
"Do you remember that little incident from one of my first games in middle school that I told you guys about?" The triple threat spoke quietly between her teeth in order to make it a little more quiet.
Thinking for a second, the unspoken second year did recall (Y/N) ranting about a little incident around that time the year before. Nodding his head, (Y/N) pointed to Tsugawa as he made another layup.
"That's him."
Mitobe quietly made an 'o' with his mouth, fully understanding now why she was hiding. And she shrunk down even more once she saw the shaved head boy make his way over to Kagami.
"Hey, you're Kagami, aren't ya? Woah! You're hair is so red. Like fire!" Tsugawa beamed as he pointed towards the tiger's head of flaming red locks.
"Huh?"
"Captain! This is the guy, right? He's the one strong guy on the Seirin team of weaklings," the shaved head boy yelled over to Iwamura while waving.
That was enough to tick both (Y/N) and Riko off at the same time. Fukuda and Mitobe both felt the (h/c) haired girl's grip on their shoulders tighten slightly, but not enough to hurt them. She had the same hard glare as her cousin, both of them even having a tick mark appear on the same spot of their faces.
While (Y/N) took a deep breath and calmed herself down, Riko was a different story.
"That's it. Now you've done it, chrome dome. I'm gonna wring that little neck," the Seirin coach growled.
As Hyuga and Izuki tried to make sure Riko didn't lunge and set out what she had just said she was going to do, Tsugawa peered over at the rest of the Seirin players. He could've sworn he saw her.
And see her he did. (Y/N) had felt safe enough to come out of her hiding place to go over and grab a stray ball. Well, let's just say that luck wasn't on her side in that moment.
Before she could even turn back towards the court, the girl heard the sound of fast approaching footsteps and a loud voice getting closer.
"HI, (Y/N)!!!!!"
The triple threat quickly flinched from the sudden loudness...probably because it echoed throughout the entire court. Even the teams from the other areas of the gym heard that. Well, she knew it was going to happen, she might as well face it now rather than later.
Letting out a small sigh, (Y/N) turned to see Tsugawa waving at her like crazy. And being the nice person that she was, she waved back while giving the boy a smile.
"Hi, Tsugawa."
And then, the shaved head boy pulled a slightly gutsy move that grabbed the attention of even some of the players on the Shutoku team. Getting down on one knee, Tsugawa grabbed the girl's hand, placing a light kiss on it before placing his other hand on his chest.
"You're looking as beautiful as ever! Hey! I didn't know you were going to Seirin. Lucky for you, when I win today, I can finally ask you out on a date!" He announced so that the EVERYONE could hear.
Yep, everyone heard that little declaration. And judging by (Y/N)'s very embarrassed reaction, her face turning even redder than Kagami's hair, the tiger now understood what she had meant by their previous incident being interesting.
It took all that Seirin had not to attack the Seiho player. But soon, it was clear that they wouldn't have to. Iwamura was quick to come up from behind Tsugawa, giving him a hard bop to the head, knocking the boy away from the red faced triple threat.
"Gonna need you to stop goofing off, kid. Sorry, guys. Especially you, Bashira. He's got a bad habit of saying the first thing that pops into his head," the captain of Seiho apologized as he placed his hand on Tsugawa's head in order to make him bow.
"Oh, he's fine...." (Y/N) brushed off as Kuroko made his way to her side, her face now returning to its normal color, and asked if she was alright, to which the girl nodded.
"Why don't you keep the apology. We'll win and call it square. Look down on us like you did last year, and we'll make you regret it," Hyuga spoke up, making his own little declaration.
He was also quite irritated at the little stunt Tsugawa had pulled earlier, so he wasn't in the mood to deal with any smack talk.
"I don't think so. Look, no one's looking down on you. It's a fact that you were weak, that's all," Iwamura shot back, a blank look on his face.
Now that made the usually peaceful (Y/N) glare slightly at the Seiho third year. He may be respectful, but she certainly didn't agree with Iwamura saying that about Seirin. The three first years and captain watched with glares as Iwamura carried Tsugawa by his collar back to their side of the court.
"Yeesh, look who's out of words now."
"Shut it. There's a difference between fact and sugar coating."
Now the sole female player had some fire beginning to burn in her stomach. With a glare still on her face, (Y/N) quickly made a three point basket before grabbing her ball, dribbling it quite hard.
"Watch them say that around me again, see what happens," she grumbled to herself as she began making her way over to the bench to try and cool her head a little bit.
As the other starters joined her, (Y/N) soon felt a hand on her head, a familiar one. Turning around with an unimpressed look still on her face, the triple threat with a smirking Kagami.
"Now you can't go getting too mad," he told her.
Why did that only seem to tick her off even more?
"Why?!" She asked rather loudly, her eye beginning to twitch.
Usually one would begin to back off when her eye began twitch, but Kagami, instead, held his fist in front of his mouth in order to contain his laughter before wrapping an arm around her shoulder, rubbing it in order to get her to calm down.
"Cause who's gonna cool me down if I get out of hand? If you're too worked up then we'll be screwed," the red head explained.
"He's right," Kuroko piped up, ignoring the look the red head gave him.
Now that they said it, the other members had to agree. (Y/N) was the only person able to calm the tiger's temper with just a simple touch. They knew she meant well with her frustration, but she knew that now wasn't the time to get too worked up about some smack talk before a match. It was just a part of the routine.
Taking a deep breath through her nose and then exhaling through her mouth, (Y/N)'s tension went away as Kagami took his arm off of her. And soon, her usual smile was placed on her face.
"You're right. We'll show them what we got. So let's kick some booty!" She declared as she held her fists out towards both Kuroko and Kagami.
The two smiled back at her before bumping their fists against hers with Hyuga and Izuki patting her head.
Meanwhile, making their way towards the gymnasium in their gray uniforms, Kasamatsu, Kise, and Hibiki were walking together with the blonde copycat looking down at his phone with one headphone in.
"What're you staring at?" The captain of Kaijo asked.
"I'm just checking today's horoscope," the copycat answered as he kept his eyes on his phone.
Hibiki arched an eyebrow suspiciously at his friend and fellow teammate.
"Don't tell me you're turning into Midorima, dude," the younger Bashira twin commented as he leaned forward.
Kise quickly shot his friend a look before turning back to his phone.
"No, of course not. It's just that Midorimacchi performs really well when his readings are good."
"Oh, you mean the Teiko guy. What's his sign?" Kasamatsu asked.
Hibiki was actually surprised their captain was curious about something like that. He didn't really seem like the type who would want to hear about that. Well, you learn something new about people everyday.
"He's a Cancer. And Kurokocchi's an Aquarius," Kise responded.
"I don't need to know about him."
"Hibikicchi, what're you and (Y/N)cchi?" The model asked the (h/c) haired boy.
"Sis and I are (horoscope sign)s. But we don't really pay much attention to that Oha Asa thing," Hibiki answered, proudly announcing his and his sister's signs.
Honestly, sometimes they got told that they acted nothing like their sign, but hey, sometimes they could really surprise people. Kise then offered Hibiki his other headphone in order to listen to the Oha Asa for the day. The (h/c) haired boy decided just to do it this one time for kicks and giggles. What did he have to lose? Placing it in his ear, the two models walked and listened as the message for Cancers came next.
"No complaints for Cancers. You're in first place. Congrats. Last place is Aquarius. You should probably stay home today."
As they walked up the steps, Kise stopped as Hibiki took his headphone out, letting out a groan in the process. Noticing that his underclassmen had stopped in their places in front of him, Kasamatsu decided to see what was up.
"Hm? Is something wrong?"
Kise then turned back towards the steely eyed captain with a worried look. Oha Asa was definitely on Midorima's side today.
"It's terrible."
Down in Seiho's dressing room, the team decided to go over a game plan since Seirin had some new editions to their starting lineup this year.
"So, what's your take on the Seirin team, Kasuga?" Iwamura asked the playmaker as he tied his shoes.
The dark blonde third year had to admit Seirin was definitely different than from what they were last year. Plus, they had gained a new and powerful weapon to put in their arsenal.
"Well, first of all, that Bashira girl, I now see why Tsugawa likes her so much. She's pretty cute. But I feel like the upperclassmen have gotten better. We should keep an eye on that first year, Kagami. Not to mention Teiko's own Triple Threat," Kasuga explained while turning back towards the captain.
And Iwamura had to agree. He felt the intensity coming off of the girl when he had been talking with Hyuga. It was hard to say how much she had improved over the past year. But still, (Y/N) wasn't the only one Seiho had to worry about.
"Might be a good move to throw our own first year, Tsugawa, at him. Given where you are now, I take it you're up to the task, right?" Iwamura asked the shaved head first year.
"Yes! Alright! Things finally got fun!" Tsugawa celebrated as he pumped his fists with excitement.
"There's that Tsugawa Smile," Kasuga commented.
"There's no one who plays defense as happily as you do. Guess you're pretty special in that sense. But we'll have to be careful with her on their starting lineup," Seiho's captain said.
Back in Seirin's changing room, it was strangely silent. The tension of what had happened the year before was really starting to get to them. For once, (Y/N) actually didn't know what to do in order to lighten the atmosphere because she knew of the severity of their lose against Seiho the year before.
Standing beside Kuroko, the girl stood in silence. But it wouldn't be like that for long. Because her dear cousin had a plan. Soon, the sound of the coach clapping her hands caught everyone's attention.
"Relax, guys. Coach is here to help. I just thought of the perfect way to cheer you all up," Riko said in a voice that was almost too girly for her.
Before anyone could question, a pink background surrounded their coach, an almost too innocent scene before them.
"If you handsome boys win, then (Y/N) told me she'll give you all a kiss on the cheek."
...
It took (Y/N) a couple of seconds before she had processed what her cousin had just said. Soon, she was surrounded by blushing boys before she began blushing, herself for the nth time today. The triple threat then began flailing her arms around like crazy.
"NO NO NO NO!! I never agreed to that! KOGA, GET AWAY!!" The girl screeched before jumped over the bench on the opposite side of where the cat faced second year was sitting before he could get her.
Soon, it became a game of who could catch (Y/N) as she began making embarrassed (Y/N) noises before Izuki finally grabbed her hand, pulling her down to where she sitting on the ground as the second year punster hugged her tightly from behind while laughing that he had caught her. Koganei joined in as he hugged her waist while placing his chin on her shoulders.
"I hate you guys...." She muttered into her hands, which were now covering her face.
Why did Riko always have to do this to her? Izuki smirked while leaning his cheek on the side of (Y/N)'s head of (h/c) hair, causing them to rock back and forth.
"Well that's too bad because we LOVE YOU!!" The punster proclaimed loudly.
"Come on, buddy. You know you love us too," Koga added on.
"RIKOOOOOO!!" (Y/N) wailed with comical tears rolling down her face.
On the other side of the room, the brunette coach was on the floor laughing her heart out, Hyuga and Mitobe standing by her to try and hold in their snickers. The first years had to admit, this was quite comical too, Kuroko was even shaking from silently laughing at his friend's goofiness. Soon, Riko managed to calm herself as she stood back up, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Woo, that was a good one. I was just kidding, but you have to admit, our little sunshine can really brighten up the mood in here. Now, get it together, you big idiots! You've got a whole year's worth of rage bottled up inside of you, so now, it's time to let them have it!" The coach commanded as she pumped her fist into the air.
As Izuki helped (Y/N) to stand, confident smiles began forming on everyone's faces. They had learned and practiced quite a lot over this past year, and now was the time to show it off.
"Listen up. I'll remind you guys one more time. First years, I'm sure you already feel the heat, but brace yourselves for worse. Seiho is strong. Last year's massive defeat almost crushed our love for the sport. We were all so close to quitting," Hyuga began monologuing.
It sounded a little depressing for a speech that was meant to hype up the team. The other first year trio, the cheerleading squad, all had down expressions on their faces from hearing their captain say that.
"Wipe off those frowns, our spirits have returned stronger. This won't be a repeat of last year. I know for a fact that we've all gotten way too good to let them defeat us like that again. You hear me? Let's go win this!" Hyuga declared.
"Yeah!"
As everyone chimed in, (Y/N) had noticed Kuroko's silence. And she had a feeling as to why that was. After all, both of their spirits were almost crushed entirely the year before. But it wasn't because of a loss, though it felt like it at the time.
As Seirin made their way out of the changing room and set forth towards the court, Kagami, (Y/N), and Kuroko were the last ones out, Kuroko lagging behind a little bit.
"Something bothering ya?" The red head called out to the phantom.
(Y/N), who had taken a couple of steps past Kagami, stopped in her tracks as well as she listened in as to why Kuroko was staying where he stood.
"Hey, Kagami. Have you ever hated basketball?" The phantom suddenly asked.
That question in itself was enough to make the sole female player's heart freeze for a split second. She had a feeling that was why her best friend had stayed silent after Hyuga's speech.
Kagami was caught off guard by the question as well.
"Huh? Never. Why do you ask?"
"I have. That's why."
The red head was a little surprised at that answer. After all, when they had first met, Kuroko had stated clearly that he loved basketball more than anything. For him to say that he had hated it, it was unlike him.
Kagami quickly turned to (Y/N) and saw the same look in her eyes as well. Could she have hated basketball too at some point?
"My reason's different from theirs, but I know the feeling really well. Sure, they're all acting cheerful now, but hating something you love, that pain cuts deep. When I spoke with Midorima, I told him the past and future were different, but they're both completely separate either. This game will help the seniors get over their past, and that's what makes it important," Kuroko explained to his two teammates.
(Y/N) couldn't help but smile to herself when she heard her best friend say that. Though, she had to admit, she felt that feeling of hatred not too long ago. It hurt her heart, and kind of messed with her mental state. She could still feel some of that to this day.
But right now, this was a fresh start for Seirin. And she was going to do what she could to make sure that the upperclassmen, her friends, got what they came for.
Walking over to Kuroko, the tall girl grabbed the boy's hand while giving him a confident and bright smile.
"Well then. Let's go make sure this game's worth fighting for," she declared confidently.
Kuroko was surprised for a second, but returned her gesture before nodding and squeezing her hand back gently.
She was right. It was time to show Seiho what the new Seirin team was really made of.
Once the team had made it onto the court, it was time for the lineup that would be followed by the tip off. They were ready to get their payback on Seiho. Call it retuning the favor.
"Without any further delay, the first semi-finals match between Seirin High School and Seiho High School will now begin!"
Seconds before the ball was thrown for the tip off, the three first year starters made sure that they were mentally ready for the battle that was ahead of them. Now, it was show time as the ball was thrown into the air.
As the trio from Kaijo finally arrived and walking through the hallway, Kasamatsu let out a sigh as he heard the faint cheering of the crowds from the stadium.
"Feels like I've spent half the game waiting for you two to get those dumb drinks," the captain grumbled before punching the back of the two models' heads, knocking them forward.
With Hibiki now rubbing his sore head, the Kaijo boys walked up the stairs into the gymnasium, Kise was the first to notice the score. And it wasn't looking good for the white and black team. The score was 12-0, Seiho.
"No frickin' way that's real," Kasamatsu let out as he too, was shocked by the score.
And just like Seiho had planned, Tsugawa was guarding Kagami with everything he had, not allowing the red head to get past him. Not only that, but Kise noticed that Seiho was double teaming (Y/N), making sure she didn't get the ball in her possession whatsoever.
Seeing that Kagami had been holding the ball too long, Izuki quickly ran in to get the pass the red head had sent him. The punster ran quickly to get a layup, and it looked like he was going to be getting Seirin's first points of the game. But Iwamura quickly appeared out of nowhere and shot down Izuki's layup.
Seiho now had possession of the ball, and it looked like Seirin was going to have to come with a plan in order to stop them quickly.
Back up in the stands, the Kaijo boys were a little confused at the predicament. It was like watching a different team, Seirin had no problem scoring against the blue team, so this was a little confusing.
"Is this a part of their plan or..." Kise trailed off.
"This pretty much confirms what I thought when we played them, they start slowly," Kasamatsu spoke up.
"Well, I don't know what good it'll do for them to put two guys on (Y/N). I just don't get why she's not trying to get past them," Hibiki added on as the boys' attention went to the sole female player.
And sure enough, there were two Seiho players guarding her like crazy. She'd try and move past them, but the other would be there to block her view of the ball. It was quite odd that she hadn't pulled any crazy stunts yet.
"True. And I feel like Kagami's usually the one with his foot on the gas, yet he's still floundering. They won't be able to ramp up ," the Kaijo captain said.
Back down on the court, Seiho was showing exactly why they were called kings. Their defense was tight, and Kagami didn't have an opening to make a pass to Hyuga or anyone else in his line of sight.
"Tsugawa, the enthusiasm's great, but don't wear yourself out," one of Seiho's players told the first year.
"Don't worry about me. These losers suck way worse than I thought," Tsugawa smiled from his place of guarding Kagami.
And those words alone was enough to set off the tiger's temper as he glared harshly at his mark.
"What the hell did you say?" The red head growled before going in hard.
Unfortunately though, Kagami had bumped Tsugawa in his attempt to get past him. The referee quick blew the whistle before calling a charging foul against the tiger.
"Are you serious?! That short fuse is going to be the end of us all," Riko snapped from beside the bench as she clenched her fist.
"Hey, man! Don't let them get to you!" Koganei yelled out in order to try and calm Kagami's temper down.
(Y/N) jogged over to Kagami since she had remembered something he had told her during their warmups. And she wasn't the only one who was there to try and get the tiger to calm his nerves. Kuroko had to remind the red head about the consequences of his actions.
"How did you already commit two fouls this early? Three more and you're off the court," the phantom informed Kagami.
Like the tiger needed any reminder of that.
"Yeah, I know. That aside, I can't find a single way to get past the funny way they move," Kagami growled as he stared down Tsugawa.
"I hear ya," (Y/N)'s voice suddenly came into the mix.
If the red head was serious about her being able to calm him down whenever he got too hotheaded, then she really needed to do it now before things got way too out of hand. So, the girl put her hands on the red head's shoulders, rubbing them to try and get his tension to go away.
"But getting worked up now won't do us any good. I'm still trying to think of ways to get around them, but for now, CALM yo-self," she joked towards the end as she continued rubbing Kagami's shoulders.
And to everyone's amazement, the red head's muscles seemed to relax under her touch. He knew she was right, but still, this Tsugawa guy was pissing him off even more now. It's not like Kagami had forgotten what had happened during warmups.
But this was going to get bad and fast if Seirin couldn't figure something out. Because of their inability to pass, Kuroko was unable to perform his misdirection. So when Izuki passed the ball to the phantom, he was unable to find any opening to throw the ball to one of his teammates.
Growling under her breath, (Y/N) tried to get past her marks, but she watched them move, she saw it. Now the gears were starting to turn, and now, she knew exactly what Seiho was doing. Luckily, Riko saw it too, and with that in mind, they could come up with a plan of attack.
It was man to man defense, but the way they were moving made their range of defense even more than what average players were used to.
"Oh, I get it now. You guys are some sneaky sons of guns. But I love it," the girl smirked at her marks before hearing the whistle blow for a break.
As the teams made their way back to their respective benches, the two guys that were marking (Y/N) couldn't help but to feel a little on edge when they heard her say that. Because if she knew their secret, then Seiho was going to be in some big trouble.
Before (Y/N) sat down, she nodded to Riko, giving her cousin the signal that she knew Seiho's secret. Crouching down in front of the starters, the coach decided to fill them in on the little discovery.
"Seiho's using old martial arts," the brunette said.
"Wait, they're using what? HI-YAH! Like that?" Kagami asked as he performed a stereotypical karate chop.
Holding back a laugh, (Y/N) stood up before running her hand through Kagami's slightly sweaty hair before making her way to the front of the team, standing beside her cousin.
"Not quite," the triple threat smiled.
"Not like in the movies. Let me rephrase, they're incorporating old martial art techniques in their play style," Riko clarified.
Now (Y/N) knew what it was called. So she decided to demonstrate for everyone just what Seiho was doing on the court.
"I feel bad for not being able to remember it, but the main moves that they're using is called Namba Running. So you guys know when you run, your arms and legs move in opposite directions, but in Namba Running, they move in the same direction," the triple threat explained.
As she went on with her explanation, (Y/N) ran in place like a normal player would, but when she explained Nanba running, she switched styles and began running in place with her arms and legs moving in the same direction.
"Apparently, it reduces the strain on your body from twisting and saves a lot of energy," Kasamatsu explained to the two Kaijo first years.
Now it made sense as to why they moved so funny.
"You sure know a lot about them," Kise noticed.
"Yeah, they're unusual, but well known. You can read all about them in Basketball Monthly. Still though, Seirin's got their own Mistress of Crazy Moves. You've seen her with your own eyes, right, Kise?" Kasamatsu mentioned as he crossed his arms, keeping his eyes on the court.
Kise then thought back to Kaijo's practice game against Seirin, and sure enough, he recalled a move that (Y/N) had done where she had gone into the splits to grab the ball, and her spikes in order to block balls from making it into the basket.
"Yeah, she's been in gymnastics and volleyball for a while, right, Hibikicchi?" The blonde asked the twin.
"Oh yeah, she still plays on teams when she can. And she's been doing it most of her life too. She gets some of her moves from our older sister."
Kasamatsu then smirked to himself. Made sense as to why she was such an amazing basketball player. Kise's eyes sparkled in amazement when Hibiki had finished his explanation. The blonde knew the girl had been in many sports her whole life, but for her to incorporate it into her unique play style was amazing to him.
"That's so cool!"
"Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what she pulls against Seiho."
And even then, Kise knew the rest of Seirin had a plan coming for Seiho, despite Tsugawa's defense being stronger than last year. It was just a matter of time.
Not only had they been using Namba running, but both girls noticed that they were using other techniques in order to save energy. And because of their martial arts movements, it now explained the funny way that they moved, which had throwing Kagami off the entirety of the game.
"But it's not as if any of them can fly or disappear. At the end of the day, they're just high schoolers," Riko told the boys in order to reassure them.
And (Y/N) had to agree with her cousin as she decided to give her own little encouraging speech.
"She's right. We can catch them off guard and take this game if we just do our thing. Besides, I think it's time some of us show these Seiho boys our own little tricks," the triple threat encouraged as she made eye contact with a certain second year, who returned her smile.
As the boys finished their little break, Kuroko approached the sole female player as she took one more drink of her water bottle before handing it to Furihata.
"What about you? Will you be okay, (Y/N)?" The phantom asked his friend with the others looking to her as well.
She knew they were concerned for her since she had double the work that the others had for having two players double team her. But the triple threat wasn't worried. Instead, she smiled, giving Kuroko a quick side hug while looking at the others.
"Don't worry about me. They can put all of their guys on me and I'll still find a way to pass them. Now that I know what they're up to, I've got plans brewing up in here," she told them, pointing to her head.
And that actually made Kuroko feel more at ease, giving the girl a small smile as they all heard the whistle blow, signaling the end of their little break.
As they made their way back to their positions, Kagami walked up to Izuki to put in a little request.
"Izuki, can I ask you to pass the ball to me?" The red head asked the punster.
And that was enough to throw the second year off since Kagami was already having a hard time, and he couldn't forget about the two fouls the tiger had under his belt.
"I really want another crack at Tsugawa," Kagami explained.
Izuki let out a small laugh before smiling slightly at the first year.
"Do you have a plan this time?"
"Nope, none. Still, the guy's only human, right? I've got to be faster, so just pass the ball to me...sir," the red head said before walking back to his position.
However, Izuki still wasn't convinced.
"No offense, but do you really think this'll work?" The punster tried to ask, but let out a sigh while making a small face as Kagami just kept on walking.
"I think it'll work," Kuroko piped up as they watched Kagami roll his shoulder in order to get ready for battle.
"Me too, Izu," (Y/N) chimed in as well as she placed an arm around Izuki's shoulders, giving him a little smirk, causing him to return her gesture.
If these two had all of their trust in Kagami, then it was probably safe to say that something good was going to come out of it.
"Besides, I've got some tricks I want to try. This Triple Threat isn't going down without a proper fight just yet," the (h/c) haired girl smirked once again before jogging back to her position on the court, more than ready to take on Seiho.
And there was an obvious difference once the game started back up. When Kagami got the ball, it was now him against Tsugawa, the shaved haired boy ready for a fight.
"Woah, a one-on-one, huh? Alright, bring it," the Seiho first year smirked.
"Look, I don't give a crap about your dumb martial arts. Basketball is basketball!" The red head declared.
And once he said that, it was time for the trio to make their move. As Kagami moved carefully, watching Tsugawa's movements, (Y/N) saw her chance. As soon as the two boys guarding her made a opening between them, the triple threat took it, smiling before quickly lunging down into a quick splits position like she had done at Kaijo before popping back up in order to screen Tsugawa, leaving the other two that were guarding her stunned.
"Get it in, Taiga!"
As he heard her yell, Kagami thought back to what Kuroko had said earlier. Though he didn't understand what the phantom had meant earlier, the last part of Kuroko's statement was crystal clear to the tiger.
"So honestly, now that I think about it, I really want to win too. No matter what."
"I do too, for everyone."
Letting out a yell, Kagami quickly ran up to the free throw line before jumping up, and landing a powerful dunk, the first for Seirin, and leaving Seiho in shock.
As the ball bounced off the ground, Kuroko caught just as (Y/N) made her way over to him with Kagami soon joining them.
"Whoa! Did he really just do that?"
"Did you see what that girl down there did?"
"That's the Generation of Miracles Triple Threat for ya!"
As the crowd cheered, the red head gave Kuroko a very determined look, they were just getting started.
"We're gonna win, ya hear me?" The red head proclaimed as the three looked back towards their second years as the rest of the team cheering from the bench.
Things were now starting to get rolling. And there was more to come. As Tsugawa stood in slight, Kasuga stopped to say something before getting back into game.
"Man, that's the first time I've seen someone who managed to get past you. Let alone block you too," the dark blonde told him before running past him.
While it may have sounded harsh, Tsugawa only took that as an invitation. And (Y/N) had the exact same thoughts as she looked back towards Seiho with a determined smirk matching Tsugawa's planted on her face.
"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet," they both stated at the same time.